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A series of evening book discussions between faculty authors from the SAIS Europe and colleagues from Italian institutions including the University of Bologna, Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale (ISPI), Istituto Gramsci and Fondazione Corriere della Sera. These events are held at Feltrinelli International bookstore in Italian with the objective of engaging the local community in topics in international relations. The initiative is entitled Uno sguardo sul mondo - prospettive internazionali e sfide globali (A glance at the world - international perspectives and global challenges) and has covered a range of topics from women and politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran to European integration to America's role in global security in the age of austerity.

Training Seminars for Local AdministratorsSponsors: various

BIPR organizes training seminars for government entities on areas on interest in international relations. Recent activities include sessions for members of the Provincial Council of Bologna and for senior administrators of the Region of Emilia Romagna on the impact of the economic crisis in Europe, in Italy and in the Bologna metropolitan area.

In May 2013 the BIPR designed a week-long study tour aimed at sharing experiences of how Italian civil society interfaces with policy makers and contributes to domestic policy development at the national and subnational levels. Participants were a group reform-minded Chinese scholars and NGO representatives. The project included seminars at European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (EURISCE) in Trento, the Civil Protection Service of Region of Emilia Romagna in Bologna and the Association of Italian Bank Foundations (ACRI) in Rome, among other participating institutions. The project was carried out in collaboration with the International Republican Institute (IRI) of Washington D.C., a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that advances freedom and democracy worldwide by developing political parties, civic institutions, open elections, democratic governance and the rule of law.

Legitimacy, Austerity, and Capital Market IntegrationSponsor: US FP7 PEGGED Program (Politics, Economics, and Global Governance: the European Dimensions).

In June 2012 BIPR organized a two-day workshop at SAIS Europe on “Legitimacy, austerity, and capital market integration” in partnership with the University of Amsterdam. The workshop brought together eight leading scholars to discuss work-in-progress on topics such as “How much political union does the euro need?”, “Financial Crisis and the foundations of globalization: is policy undermining the legitimacy of financial openness?” and “Where's main street? Collective action, production structures and the problems securing a new and stable regime of accumulation”.

The Bologna Institute for Policy Research is engaged in a multi-year project to promote the study of Italian Politics. This project has two pillars; the first is an ongoing collaboration with the Bologna-based think tank Istituto Cattaneo to produce its annual volume Politica in Italia/Italian Politics in both Italian and English. The volume, published annually since 1986, features contributions from Italian and foreign scholars on the most salient political events of the previous year. Likewise, BIPR supports Cattaneo's series Elezioni Governi Democrazie which analyzes national elections in other leading industrial democracies including France, Spain and Germany.

The second project is the editorial coordination of the Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics, a 55-chapter volume. The handbook is slated for publication in early 2015. BIPR received support from the Provincial Council of Bologna to create a platform for exchange between authors of the Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics and local actors including administrators, journalists and representatives of civil society. These two groups came together in workshops hosted by the Province in January and May of 2013 to discuss early drafts of Handbook chapters, offering insights to the authors and bringing the conversation into the public arena.

Macroeconomic Imbalances and Financial Instability in the EurozoneSponsor: TAMOP Fellowship of the Hungarian Government supported by the European Union

The objective of the project is the publication of an original monograph on macroeconomic imbalances and financial instability in the Eurozone. The study addresses to what extent the architects and critics of Europe's economic and monetary union anticipate the current crisis and explores arguments about causality and concerns the underling mechanism that brought the crisis about as well as the psychology behind international capital flows and European sovereign debt markets. The work concludes with the political requirements for arriving at a solution, and specifically four potential innovations – measures to limit market speculation, like the ban on short-selling or naked credit default swap contracts; common European deposit insurance; common European sovereign debt financing, both ad hoc through bailout mechanisms and ongoing through 'eurobonds'; and fiscal federalism.

Optimal Financial AreasSponsor: SWIFT

The purpose of the research is to address the impact of the development of financial market infrastructures on economic growth in developing countries. This is covered by developing a theory around the subject of optimum financial areas that takes economic growth and market infrastructure into consideration while also encompassing competitiveness, policy and regulation, the political economy and development. The study focuses on two developing financial areas, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The research utilizes empirical evidence derived from developed major world economies, and their financial market infrastructures. It also relies on primary and secondary research to establish current state of play through available data to do with select developing nations at different stages in the development lifecycle.